Are you ignoring the facts?
Are you ignoring the facts of the churches decline? Giving to the church as a percent of Americans incomes has dropped from 3.11% in 1968 to now at 2.3% and declining. At the current rate of decline giving to the church by 2050 will be at 1%! Yet when I talk about and write about this church leaders shrug their shoulders, yawn or worse act like this reality is not their problem.
WAKE UP! The decline in giving is impacting churches large and small. While the current economic climate is certainly not helping it has little to do with the decline. That fact alone is hard for the typical church leader to admit to. Yet studies show that the decline that began in 1968 has little to do with recessions or the economy.
What are the key factors in the decline in giving? Here are some of the major reasons giving is declining…
- Church attendance is in decline. What no one wants to admit is those huge mega churches that get all the press are actually growing by taking members from smaller churches. Church attendance continues to decline and the fact is that when there are fewer people in the chairs or pews there will be less money in the plate or bucket.
- Society is increasingly more secular. This is a major reason for the decline in attendance that contributes to the decline in giving. A secular society sees no need to give to a religious institution much less attend its services.
- We are undergoing a demographic shift in America. We are getting younger and more ethnic. The Builders, the best givers by percentage are basically off the stage. Baby Boomers, now the largest giving segment in America, are moving into retirement and thus lower earning power. The largest generation, the Millennials are leaving the church in hordes thus threatening future giving to the church. On top of this new ethnic groups, most of which are non-evangelical and at the lower end of the economic ladder are on the rise. The church is failing to connect with these segments as well.
- Our systems for collecting money is antiquated. Each week we pass a plate, basket or bucket by people that carry little cash and couldn’t find their check book if their lives depended upon it. They thus have no way to contribute anything but change to your cause. Amazingly many dig in defending the plate like they defend the Virgin Birth. The results are emptier offering plates!
- Our message is not connecting with our changed world. We have failed to tell our story of life change and thus appear irrelevant to many people. Americans are the most generous people in the world when they feel the need is worthy of their contribution.
- We erroneously think that asking for money will drive people away. Many churches thinking that taking up the offering will drive visitors away hide offering portals. Those that do this will never see an increase in giving. Other churches prep the offering by saying, “If you are a guest today please don’t feel like you have to give.” That apology is all the excuse people need for passing the plate by without participating in worship by giving.
We have created the perfect storm that will mean the loss of billions of dollars. Admittedly you cannot do anything about some of the points above. However you can do something.
Most churches are doing nothing hoping that next week, next month or next year will be different. Hope is not a strategy! If you do nothing you will continue to see a decline in giving. At what point will you wake up and do something? Acting now, even if your giving is strong, could avert a shutdown in your missions and ministry opportunities in the coming years. The decline is not in the future it is here now. The facts point to this reality. Are you ignoring the facts?
Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
I am helping churches across America reverse the decline in giving. I can help you. Go to https://thestewardshipcoach.org/join-now/ to find out more.